Frustrated Stampeders pick up the pieces after losing to Toronto

Mistakes led to Calgary’s first home loss of the season — 33-27 to the defending champs

Calgary Stampeders Rob Cote and Chris Randle collide as Toronto Argonauts ball carrier Trent Guy goes leaping over them during Saturday's game at McMahon Stadium. It was a mistake-filled effort from the Stamps.

Photograph by: Christina Ryan
, Calgary Herald

For a team that prides itself in doing things with a certain degree of excellence, Saturday night’s litany of blunders and untimely infractions were taken to heart and dutifully noted.

“It’s very frustrating,” acknowledged linebacker Juwan Simpson after the Calgary Stampeders’ rundown on the heels of their third loss of the year, a 33-27 decision to the Toronto Argonauts.

“We know how we work, the effort we put in off the field, after-hours. This team works hard, one of the hardest working teams I’ve been around since I’ve been here. But you have those games. We know where we made our mistakes. It’s fixable, adjustable and I’m confident we’ll do that this week.

“With us winning a few games in a row, it makes this loss seem much bigger than it is. It’s just another game. People lose every week. You just don’t want to make a habit of it.”

The Stamps are now looking ahead to Hamilton later this week, but took a few minutes to further dissect a game in which the offence was somewhat off kilter and the defence — after surging out of the gate — was found wanting on several occasions.

“It’s a humbling experience,” admitted Stamps’ dynamic defensive end Charleston Hughes. “You just put it behind you and try to play better as the season goes along. I guess you could say they had a good game plan. They were physical up front, they made plays. You can’t ask more from them as a coach. On our side, we didn’t play our best game at all. We did make a lot of mistakes, three consecutive penalties on one drive! You can’t win games when you play like that.

“You live and you learn, right?”

The Argos totalled 435 yards, 105 on the ground and 330 in the air courtesy of Toronto’s young quarterback Zach Collaros.

“He threw some deep balls, they got some receivers open,’’ pointed out Simpson, who contributed with a sack and forced fumble in the first quarter. “The plays they made were big; it’s not like he was nickel-and-diming us down the field. But the guy’s a good quarterback, he’s going to have a great career in the CFL.”

“Our defence did some uncharacteristic things last night, things that just from watching the film you don’t see out of our defence,” agreed Fred Bennett, a member of a secondary which was beat on big plays late in the game. “We know where we stand. We know we have our work cut out for us. We’ll take this loss on the chin.

“I still feel we have one of the best secondaries in the league. This is the game, it happens. When it happens, it’s how you react to it. We’ll see what kind of team we are coming back next week.”

Much of the Stamps’ play in the second half, in particular, won’t be used in any how-to videos.

“In fact, we generally played a lot of bad football,” acknowledged head coach/GM John Hufnagel. “Too many penalties, not having enough guys on the field offensively, not converting on a second-and-two, we had a bad snap, which stopped us.

“Defensively, we didn’t tackle very well. We weren’t playing as a team therefore creating some things that exposed us.”

Calgary used their three quarterbacks, with Kevin Glenn getting the lion’s share of the workload, throwing for two TDs and a pair of picks, including a second one to Pat Watkins in the end zone at 7:14 of the third quarter.

“I thought he played very hard,” said Hufnagel, “made some plays, got out of trouble. He wishes he had the one throw back, but those things happen. I thought the quarterbacks did what they needed to do except for one errant throw.”

Simpson waxed philosophical as he put the loss into perspective.

“This game is full of highs and lows, peaks and valleys. One minute you’re hot, the next you’re not. Toronto’s a good team, but I still feel we’re a better team. I feel we should have won yesterday. We shot ourselves in the foot . . . but hats off to them.”

EXTRA POINTS: The Stamps came out of the game relatively unscathed, though right tackle Spencer Wilson will undergo concussion protocol . . . Hufnagel called moving the veteran Jon Gott to centre, in place of the rookie Brett Jones, a “matchup decision.”

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Calgary Stampeders Rob Cote and Chris Randle collide as Toronto Argonauts ball carrier Trent Guy goes leaping over them during Saturday's game at McMahon Stadium. It was a mistake-filled effort from the Stamps.

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